Royal Rumble 2013: John Cena vs The Rock II At Wrestlemania 29… Why?

Really WWE?

April 4th 2011. The Rock And John Cena Agree To Fight Each Other At Wrestlemania 28, which I don’t have a problem with. It’s one of them bona-fide dream matches, and the fact that they made the match “Once In A Lifetime”. I am actually one of the few people actually amped up for the match.

April 1st 2012. The match doesn’t disappoint. I actually thought the match was worth the year-long wait. And amazingly, The Rock won. Not exactly certain how him winning was gonna help anyone, but what’s done is done.

April 2nd 2012. One of the greatest Raws I’ve ever seen kicked off by The Rock declaring that he has a goal… to become WWE Champion. Alright, I’m content with that. If they had The Rock like win the Royal Rumble and face the WWE Champion at Wrestlemania or something. That’d make sense since he’d earn his WWE Title shot.

July 23rd 2012. The Rock shows up on RAW 1000 and says he’s been given a title shot at the Royal Rumble against whoever the WWE Champion at that time. Not exactly happy that Rock just got given a title shot without any justification, but with CM Punk laying Rock out at the end of RAW 1000, and feud between them two, and Rock putting CM Punk over would have been been really good for Punk and establish as one of the all-time greats in WWE right? Right?

January 27th 2013. Our worse fears are realized. Not only does The Rock win the WWE Title and make CM Punk look really bad while doing it, John Cena wins the Royal Rumble. This sets up Rock vs Cena II at Wrestlemania 29.

Ahem….

WWE… What are you doing?

Are you serious?

Considering that the CM Punk vs The Rock match has been building ever since July, the match we saw on Sunday was a HUGE let down. It started off rather well. Well placed. Seeing Heyman involved was a treat too. OK, the announce table spot was botched, but the match could have still had a great finish. But that’s not what happened. It was the most abrupt ending. And the match was too short considering the John Cena vs The Rock match was 30 minutes long. It wasn’t exactly the classic match I was expecting. Cena and Rock put on a better match than this. Not really worth the wait. Apparently, there will be a rematch for the WWE Championship, and it’s not real surprise who’ll win that, I just hope it’s an improvement on this match.

That’s not even the thing that pissed me off about last night. John Cena winning and easily eliminating Ryback pissed me off. I mean if Rock is gonna drop the belt at Wrestlemania, why drop it to an established superstar like John Cena? Why did Cena get the win? Don’t they realize how over Ryback would have gotten if he won the rumble and beat Rock? This company had the opportunity of a lifetime to turn Ryback into the next top guy in WWE, and they fucking blew it. Ryback needed to win last night. And what’s worse is that it wasn’t even like a Shield interference that eliminated him. Super-Cena easily threw him over the top rope. WTF? Bullshit. I’m not a Cena hater btw, but dammit! Cena didn’t need that win last night.

Sure, I get why Cena won. Cena needs a return victory from their match at Wrestlemania 28, but why at Wrestlemania 29? It’s the same main event 2 Manias in a row. If Cena would have won a rematch in the Royal Rumble/Summerslam or something, that’d would be a good set up for a 3rd match at WM29 or something, if you get what I mean. The thing is, WWE have now made the main event of Wrestlemania 29,one of the most predictable match in history, and they screwed themselves over, because the revenue from Mania 29 is not gonna be that great, because a lot of people will expect Cena to win that match. Why would people want to waste money seeing the same match they saw a year ago?

To be honest, I’m not that big on Rock only showing up once in a blue moon, but he could have at least put some people over, and I don’t mean someone who’s already the top superstar in the business, John Cena. Chris Jericho is someone I truly respect, because while he’s not here 24/7 because of Fozzy (awesome band btw), when he comes back, he puts people over and helps them become stars. Look at Ziggler now! Rock should be doing that, not putting himself over.

The thing about WWE now is that it does thing that are “good for business”. I hate that part about WWE. The Rock was brought in because it’s “good for business”. Brock Lesnar was brought in because it’s “good for business”. I hate their state of mind right now. And despite that thought process, having the same main event 2 years in a row is not “good for business”. Also, focusing on John Cena 24/7 is not “good for business” either.  Sure, Cena is getting a lot of t-shirts and baseball caps sold, and is a big hit with their target audience, blah, blah, blah, but they fail to realize the danger of what they are gonna do once Cena leaves WWE or if he gets injured.

Cena has become injury-prone, and his days in WWE are numbered because he’s getting injured too often as of late, and they need their top star healthy 24/7. If they want Ryback to be the next guy on top of the food chain, focus the show around him, not on Cena. Don’t let the newest top star in WWE get eliminated in the Rumble by the guy he is supposed to replace.

Also, how come there was only 1 heel in the final 6 of the Rumble? Dolph Ziggler, a guy who spent 49 minutes in the match, was the only heel representative in the final 6. Ziggler was there with John Cena, Ryback, Sheamus, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho. It was like Lex Luthor facing the Justice League by himself. Why are the superheroes overpowering the heels? The point of superheroes are to overcome the odds that the villains throw at them. In the end, it was down to Sheamus, Cena and Ryback. And I swear it was like the Goku, Superman and The Hulk were about to have an epic 3 way that would destroy the planet (of course Sheamus would be Goku, Cena would be Superman and Ryback would be The Hulk). XD

And it’s a shame these two endings actually occurred because the pay-per-view was actually really good up until them endings. The Tag Title match was good. The Last Man Standing match was slow-paced but good, with a funny ending. The Rumble featured a lot of surprises. Chris Jericho returning was a fantastic moment as no-one saw it coming. Goldust and Godfather were two cool suprises and the Kofi Kingston chair spot was cool. To quote Mark Pidgeon (@Gpressonline on Twitter), an awesome twitter follower of mine…

“Two stupid booking decisions ruined an overall decent Ppv no need at all.”

And if they do Brock Lesnar vs Triple H II as well, that’s two rematches that are so unwanted. Rock vs Cena II (a rematch from WM 28) and Lesnar vs Triple H II (a rematch from Summerslam). Seriously. Why do WWE feel the need for rematches? They take away from the original matches, and are so overdone nowadays.

UFC ON FOX 6 Results And Reactions, WWE Royal Rumble 2013 Predictions And The FA Cup

Treat for you guys! After a week of blog inactivity, Tom Robinson is here to talk about BOTH WWE and UFC in this SUPER POST!

A lot to talk about so first…..

UFC ON FOX 6

ANTHONY PETTIS: In Line For A World Title Fight After Impressive TKO

In Chicago, a big fight feel was in the air! Ricardo Lamas defeated Eric Koch in the 2nd Round with a TKO in the featherweight division. A good encounter, and a fairly lively first round, but in the end, Lamas had so much power that Koch simply could not withstand. While it’s a disappointing setback for Koch, Lamas has a great win here that may edge closer to a title shot, if he keeps up the momentum. Undefeated in UFC, Lamas has all sorts of potential, and a big fight for him next could send him into contention.

Anthony “Showtime” Pettis proved why he’s one of the best the lightweight division has to offer, with the TKO of the night, impressively putting Donald Cerrone away with a hard kick to the gut in the first round. Now it’s apparent that Pettis is FINALLY next in line for a title shot (after Benson Henderson vs Gilbert Melendez on UFC on FOX 7). YES! This has been LONG overdue, and all we need now is for Henderson to retain the title against Melendez, and we get a rematch that I’ve wanted to see for a WHILE. Benson Henderson vs Anthony Pettis for the UFC Lightweight championship! So looking forward to that. These two fought in the classic last WEC Lightweight Championship match in 2010, and they could lock it up again for the UFC lightweight championship. This could be a rematch for the ages.

Rampage Jackson lost to Glover Teixeira on points and deservingly so. In his first fight in more than a year, Rampage was fought off the park as Glover, the former sparring partner of Chuck Liddell, extended his undefeated run to 18 FIGHTS. But Jackson was looking way too tired to fight, and struggled and struggled as the fight progressed. But then again, Glover is NOT someone you can take lightly, and it was a hard task for Jackson to overcome in his return.

And in the main event, Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson competed in a superb 5 round encounter for the UFC FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRLLLLLLLLDDDDD! And in the first couple of rounds, Dodson had the better starter at the start of the fight. He was calm and collected and he was getting the champion frustrated. A good strategy indeed right? Maybe so, but that made the champ make some illegal blows. The first one didn’t seem to phase him, but the second seem to take it’s tool. While Dodson didn’t look phased at first, Johnson did get a lot of shots in through-out the fight, and used some wrestling to get him in the headlock, allowing him the freedom to deliver some knees to the face, which proved to be too much for the challenger, and set the tone for the rest of the fight. In the end, Johnson was awarded the fight, and the first ever UFC flyweight champion retained in his first title defence. It was the shame that Dodson lost after his start, but as fighting champion should, Johnson turned the tide, and showed the will to fight through the slippy start, where he was on his backside more than 3 times in the first 2 rounds. The winner is Demetrious Johnson.

 

WWE Royal Rumble 2013

Ladies And Gentleman, the Royal Rumble is HERE! And to be honest, the last few rumble events have produced some mighty shockers. Edge returning and winning the Rumble in 2010 was a shocker (unless you read the spoilers before hand). Alberto Del Rio was not exactly someone I expected to win the Royal Rumble in 2011. And last year, yeah, I didn’t think the dark horse Sheamus would stop Chris Jericho from winning the Rumble. That is exactly why this pay-per-view is my favorite PPV of the year (and yeah that top-trumps Wrestlemania). It doesn’t matter how bad or lacking in the matches the under-card is, the match itself is what you pay for. Except this year is different, WWE have something else for you to spend your money for… The Rock.

The Brahma Bull challenges CM Punk for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble. Now the question in my mind is simple… which match will actually be the main event? The Rock vs CM Punk or the Royal Rumble match? Tradition has the Royal Rumble match main-eventing the card every year (of course in some cases, like the 2006 event, this wasn’t the case). And the reason it main-events the card is simply because that’s the match everyone wants to see. But this mega-superstar The Rock we are talking about. The Rock is The Rock, and logically should The Rock take a back seat to another match on the card? I mean Attitude Era fans will pay big money to see The Rock return since it’s so rare. And CM Punk vs The Rock has been building ever since July at RAW 1000, when CM Punk decked The Rock and turned heel. This brings up the question of… Tradition vs Business. Respect the PPV’s long-standing tradition and go with the Royal Rumble match as the main event, or go for the big-money match Rock vs Punk as the main event. I personally they’ll go with Rock vs Punk for the main event, since he’s on the freaking cover, but I’m not bothered either way.

Of course, I did predictions of the Rumble match AND the WWE Championship match 4 weeks ago (Which you can access with these links. The link for the blog post about the title match is here and the blog post for the rumble match is here). And 4 weeks on, I am standing by my picks… sort of.

I said before that CM Punk would retain the WWE Title, and I stand by that prediction. If CM Punk loses to someone who only wrestles once in a blue moon, then that’s disrespectful to the WWE Title. I see The Rock winning the title at some point (probably at Elimination Chamber) but not at Royal Rumble. CM Punk needs this win if he is gonna lose the title in the near future.

I also think Alberto Del Rio will retain the World Title over The Big Show. I don’t see Big Show being in the World Title reign at all during Wrestlemania 29. Del Rio will probably be champion up until Elimination Chamber. It’d be cool to see Del Rio in the World Title match at Wrestlemania, but I doesn’t seem like that’s gonna happen.

I see Team Hell-No retaining the tag titles too. Team Hell-No are still really popular, and while they’ve kinda lost their momentum a bit with The Shield thing, I think with Dr Shelby being brought back, the segments have really picked up a notch. I see Sandow and Rhodes winning the titles… but not tonight. I just don’t see it

The Royal Rumble Winner I think will still be Ryback. I can really see Ryback winning the rumble and facing the WWE Champion at Wrestlemania 29, even if The Rock is the WWE Champion at that point. I can see Ryback beating The Rock at Wrestlemania, and that’d do wonders for him, and would really put him over BIG TIME! I would rather see that over Rock vs Cena II any day of the week…. BUT, I am starting to think that Sheamus could win a 2nd year in a row. Only an elite few have won the rumble twice in a row, and I honestly see Sheamus winning it, and going on to face Randy Orton for the World Title. I wouldn’t be that bothered if that happened, especially if Orton was heel. But I want to see Ryback winning the WWE Title, so I’m gonna go with him to win the Rumble.

 

FA Cup

Also, I’d like to talk about the FA Cup a little. I love the FA Cup, and the upsets this weekend have been really cool to see. Seeing Luton in the 5th Round was great to see. Aston Vanilla seriously need to sort themselves out after being eliminated by Millwall. Oldham performed really well to beat Liverpool, and thoroughly deserved that win.

As a Boro fan, Boro got lucky to get past Aldershot, but if they play Chelsea in the 5th Round, that’d be amazing, and I for one want to see, Boro vs Chelsea at the Riverside. Sorry Brentford fans, but I really want to see Boro vs Chelsea in the 5th Round, so I’m cheering on Chelsea in the 4th Round replay. COME ON CHELSEA! XD

UFC on FX 7 Reactions: Bisping’s Middleweight Title Shot Slowly Fading Away

 

What up guys, Thomas Robinson HERE!

Here to talk about last night’s main event of UFC on FX 7. Manchester’s Michael Bisping travelled to Sao Paulo to grapple with one of the greatest Brazilian fighter’s in MMA history, Vitor Belfort.

This was Bisping’s chance to gain the Middleweight Title Shot he had been eyeing up for a while now. In fact he has NEVER had a UFC Title shot before, so this was a big opportunity against Rio De Janeiro’s own Vitor Belfort.

But unfortunately for Bisping, Belfort came out on top with a TKO in the start of the 2nd Round. To be honest, this doesn’t seem like a surprise to me. Bisping is in a big-fight situation against a big-name fighter like Belfort, and not only that, Belfort had the home-country advantage. Then again, the home-country advantage shouldn’t influence the match decision that much, and Bisping really struggled to withstand the abuse Belfort was dishing out. Bisping found it really hard to amount a great opening against Vitor, and was only able to connect kicks to the legs and jabs in that 1st round. When Belfort saw an opportunity, he pounced, and near the end of the 1st, unleashed a series of blows that nearly ended the fight at that moment. Bisping survived the first round, but… not the second. Belfort connected with the high kick to the face (well actually it was more like a knee to the face because of how Bisping was positioned) and the fight was done with a TKO victory to Belfort.

Now that’s only Bisping’s 2nd defeat via a KO or a TKO, with his 3 other defeats coming through a decision, but Bisping must overcome this inability to perform in big match situations. I mean all 5 of his defeats have come from big fight situations. 3 of them defeats were Middleweight Title Eliminators, and the other two defeats were at the hands of Wanderlei Silva and Rashad Evans . Bisping has all the tools to become a champion, but this defeat just shows that he really needs to overcome this problem, as his next middleweight title eliminator, may be his last.

UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs Bisping – ONLINE LINK HERE!

HEY WHAT UP, MMA/UFC FANS! Tom Robinson here. Those of you who missed UFC on FX’s main event last night, here’s a link I’ve found that has the entire fight uploaded on Dailymotion. The fight at the top of the screen is the one you want. Be sure to check out my reaction to the result of the fight which will have been uploaded on here https://thearmbarexpress.wordpress.com/ as soon as the fight is over.

ANYWAY, THE LINK IS DOWN BELOW!

http://wrestletube.altervista.org/watch-ufc-on-fx-7-vitor-belfort-vs-michael-bisping-online-full-fight-replay/

A Major Failure For American Journalism – The Manti Te’o Hoax

MANTI TE’O: Lost his “girlfriend” in September last year

 

Hey guys, Tom Robinson here. This is NOT a wrestling post. This is in fact about the recent developments of the story in the US about the American Football Player (who’s actually Samoan), Manti Te’o.

For those of you who don’t know by now, this guy Manti Te’o, who plays American Football for Notre Dame, gave an account to a number of media outlets, claiming that he lost both his grandmother and his girlfriend Lennay Kekua on the same day. Apparently, Lennay was involved in car accident and died from Leukaemia.  But recent revelations a couple of days ago have confirmed that not only did Lennay Kekua not die – she didn’t live either. Deadspin released a report on January 16th that basically said the entire thing was a hoax.

His club Notre Dame released this statement:

“On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Te’o and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators.”

 

Now this story is slightly complicated and it’s a little hard for myself to get my head around, but I’ll tell you what isn’t hard to figure out – The American Media Industry fucked up big time. Look at this list of some of the media organizations that bought the story:

http://www.sbnation.com/2013/1/16/3884198/the-list-people-who-never-looked-up-lennay-kekua

No-one from any of these brands thought to look it up. Even the New York Times. THE NEW YORK TIMES! One of the most well-known newspapers in the world didn’t think “OK, let’s just confirm if what he’s saying is true”. Now I am certainty not a journalist for someone like the New York Times, and I don’t work for ESPN. I only started studying journalism in October. And even I know that you have to make sure what you are being told is true. Never take what anyone says for the truth. Never trust what government’s tell you. Always look into something before confirming it to be fact. And the fact that none of the major American media industries had the testicular fortitude to question what Manti said has to tell you something.

Of course, over the years, lots of media industries have fallen for hoaxs and released false stories

• Janet Cooke’s Jimmy’s world story for example – http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/day/04_17_2001.htm

Yeah, this story was a while ago, but the thing is Media industry shouldn’t be making mistakes like this in this age. Back then, the internet wasn’t as popular as it is now, and with all the ways and resources they could have done, before deciding it’s legitimacy, this was a pretty pathetic episode for American Journalism.

I also doubt that this story will end here, as a lot more truths and twists are bound to come out real soon.

RUMOUR: Dolph Ziggler Turning Face?

THE CRAZY CREW (That’s the name I’ll give this stable for now): One of the members of this crew could be turning face.

Hey, what is up guys? Tom Robinson here, and I am here because I read about a rumour on NoDQ.com

It reads…

“As noted, officials have discussed breaking Big E Langston away from Ziggler and AJ Lee but it sounds like he might stay with AJ. They are discussing this not because of a possible Langston face turn but because of a Ziggler babyface turn.”

“Vince McMahon has been changing his mind back and forth on Ziggler as a babyface but it’s more when and not if. A lot of people in the company feel that Ziggler will take off huge as a babyface when the call is made. The fact that Ziggler is already popular in the New York market is said to be influencing Vince’s decision.”

You can read it at their site if you want here ————–  http://nodq.com/wwe/360434790.shtml

Now, I am not for the idea of Ziggler turning face right now. This guy is one of the top heels of the business right now, and I think he needs at least 1 world title run as a heel, before even considering a face turn. Ziggler just seems a lot more suited for the heel role. Also, far too many people are changing sides in WWE as of late. I mean let’s take a look at all the guys that turned face recently:

• Alberto Del Rio at TLC
• Christian at Over The Limit (Not exactly recent, but you get the idea)
• Kane just before Money In The Bank
• Daniel Bryan (Well turned tweener anyway) after he started teaming with Kane
• Chris Jericho on the 999th episode of RAW
• The Miz Just before Survivor Series

And also, we’ve had Big Show, AJ Lee and CM Punk all turning heel along the way. They can’t just turn people face/heel all the time, it kills their character. I mean if Ziggler turns face, what main event heels do we have left? CM Punk and Big Show? Then again, they may be turning Orton soon.

TNA Genesis 2013 Review – Super Hardy Wins Again! Christopher Daniels Becomes The Number One Contender!

BULLY RAY: A little strange that the man on the poster for Genesis doesn’t even have a match on the card. Did show up for 2 segments though.

 

“Greetings and salutations, all you ham sandwiches!” Christopher Daniels

Hehehehe

TNA Genesis review for you guys!

SUPER HARDY! SUPER HARDY!

Yes, TNA have their very own John Cena, in the Charismatic Enigma Jeff Hardy, who successfully retained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat elimination match against Bobby Roode and Austin Aries at Genesis. I think it was a decent triple threat match and they were some brilliant spots in the match which included the traditional Doomsday Device modified with Jeff Hardy hitting the Whisper In The Wind. However, I’ve got 3 problems with the match:

1. 75% of the match was effectively a handicap match. OK, I get that that Bobby Roode and Austin Aires gonna team up up to take out Jeff Hardy, but considering the egos these guy supposedly had, surely they had to turn on each other sooner than later. The whole point of a triple threat is that all 3 guys fight one another. Roode and Aries fought each other for about 1 minute. Roode or Austin should’ve turned on the other a lot sooner.

2. The eliminations were way too close to each other in time. After Bobby Roode got eliminated, Aries didn’t last before being eliminated himself. I really wanted to see him and Hardy scrap for a little bit longer.

3. Why do TNA feel the need to make Jeff Hardy out to be their very own John Cena. Overcoming the odds of the greatest heels in TNA like Cena would? Really? Jeff Hardy gets his ass-kicked for about 90% of the match and at the end of the match somehow defeats them both? BULLSHIT.

I’m not surprised that Hardy won the fight, but this was totally the wrong way to end the match. Decent match, but seemed like a glorified handicap match than a triple threat.

Christopher Daniels Becomes The Number One Contender For The TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Yes! I am so happy with this result! Daniels defeat James Storm, and became the number one contender for the World title. Get In! Daniels is no doubt worthy of being the world champion, and I’m surprised he hasn’t been up until this point. Daniels defeated James Storm in a solid match between the two after a distraction from Kazarian, and he gets a TNA World Title shot on the 24th of January Episode of Impact, and I REALLY do hope that he wins the gold. YES! Happy with the match and happy with the result.

Sting Gets Revenge

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

In what was a pretty boring match, Sting defeated DOC and got revenge for the hammer attack a couple of a months ago. Seriously, the had Sting win with such ease, it made DOC look SO goddamn bad. Aces And Eights tried to jump Sting afterwards, but Bully Ray made the save. DOC seriously should have won here. And the match absolutely sucked.

 

Rob Van Dam Retains The X-Division Title

Kenny King and Christian York faced off in what I thought was a pretty decent match. Kenny King showed off some amazing abilities and York did pretty well and there were a couple of spots in that match that were pulled off really well. I thought the finish was good to with the cradle pin being reversed into another pin by York to get the win. Kenny King then laid out York with a beast finisher, which I don’t know the name of. And York was out… which wasn’t a good thing considering he had his title match with RVD next, which RVD easily won. I’m not surprised by the results of both matches, but all I want to say is… Kenny King needs the X-Division Title. Come on, TNA. Put the belt on him already.

 

DO NOT BOOK SAMOA JOE VS MR ANDERSON AGAIN TNA

These guys do not click AT ALL. This match was beyond boring. It started of pretty feisty and aggressive by Samoa Joe, but then the match just slowed right down. It was slowly becoming boring as hell. That’s not to take anything anything away from Mr Anderson or Samoa Joe. I think they are both capable wrestlers. But its hard to get interested in a match with wrestlers these sizes, and it limits the work these two can do together. Samoa Joe is athletic and can move, but is still very big and Mr Anderson isn’t as quick with his game as Joe. So I wasn’t expecting much from this match, and I didn’t get much. TNA, Anderson and Joe just don’t seem to click. By the way, Mike Knox distracted Joe, allowing Anderson to get the win.

 

GAIL KIM DOMINATES THE KNOCKOUTS GAUNTLET, BUT GETS SCREWED

Gail Kim basically dominated this gauntlet, eliminating Miss Tessmacher, ODB and Mickie James in quick succession, not allowing any of the pairings to put together a good showing. I get they were trying to keep energy up through-out the match, but these matches should have been at least a little bit longer. It was then down to Gail Kim and Velvet Sky, and Sky won despite Kim’s foot being on the rope. Now it seems that the knockouts referee Taryn Terrell is about to start a feud with Gail Kim, considering they were arguing through-out the gauntlet, and Kim got screwed at the end. And if this feud results in a match between the two, I do hope Taryn’s training in OVW will help perform in the ring. I don’t know how well this girl works in the ring, but hopefully she and Gail can put together a good match. I’m not surprised that Velvet Sky won. You could tell she was gonna win, because she just returned and now she is gonna feud with Tara over the Knockouts title. Hopefully this is a good feud for the gold.

 

Send Joey Ryan To OVW

Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez defeated Matt Morgan and Joey Ryan to retain the tag team titles. Worst Tag Team Match I’ve seen in a while. This match was just a total mess, and it’s bad enough they put together two big guys in a tag match… but Joey Ryan needs to stay the hell away from the ring. Seriously, he f**ked up a lot of moves in that match, and nearly broke his own neck taking a powerbomb from Hernandez. Ryan has a great gimmick, no doubt. But his ring-work is absolutely terrible. He’s sloppy and was all over the place in that match, and what’s worse is that he was tagged in a lot in that match, so TNA showcased his shitness a lot, and his front-facelock on Hernandez looked plain ridiculous. And he’s just bringing down Matt Morgan, who came back to TNA, big-booting everyone and looking like this total bad-ass, and he’s stuck with this tool, acting like his trainer. Matt Morgan looked like he was about to snap Ryan in half after the match, and I do hope he turns on Ryan starts going into singles competition.

 

Devon Defeats Joseph Park

The fans were into this one a lot. The fans were split, with “Let’s go Devon” and Let’s go Joseph” chants colliding. They started off the match with Devon toying with Joseph and out-wrestling him and slapping him in the hand, being the traditional heel giant Goliath facing David. Park would then assemble a comeback, demonstrating actual wrestling from his “OVW training” which got the fans popping, and got Devon really peeved. This match was similar to the DOC one, except Park actually showed some wrestling in this one, and the match actually wasn’t that bad. As you’d expect, Park was busted open, saw blood, morphed into Abyss, kicked the crap out of Devon, and delivered a Black-Hole Slam. I’m actually suprised Devon kicked out. It made him look good when he did it. Park was about to chokeslam Devon, but then he got stunned, and like his match with DOC, he got beat. Very similar to his match with DOC, but it was actually made a lot better with Park showing wrestling abilities and the crowd were really into it, making me really into it. And the crowd does make the match sometimes. Pretty good.

 

Overall, I think Genesis was a good PPV, but I think it was just predictable as hell. All my predictions were right (expect with the Daniels vs Storm match. I thought Storm would win to be honest) and I just feel that they should have had some moments that none of those would suspect would happen. The show should be flat out unpredictable, but it wasn’t, and it made the show seem flat.

TNA Genesis 2013 Predictions

BULLY RAY: A little strange that the man on the poster for Genesis doesn’t even have a match on the card. Hmmmmm.

What is up wrestling fans? Tom Robinson here. With predictions on tonight’s TNA Pay-Per-View “Genesis”. To be honest, this card could have been a LOT better, but this card is set and the PPV is here. So let’s get down to the predictions…

Matt Morgan and Joey Ryan vs Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez for the TNA World Tag Team Championship

Background: This feud has been building up for a while. The two teams first met for the tag titles at Final Resolution, with Ryan and Morgan challenging Chavo and Hernandez. The match ended in Morgan and Ryan get DQ’d, but somehow, they were able to get a rematch for the tag titles set for Genesis. Last week on Impact, Morgan and Ryan were attacked by Chavo and Hernandez  backstage when Matt Morgan was cutting a promo. Pretty boring feud for the tag titles at the moment so I do hope this is the last tag match between the two. These two teams just don’t seem to click for me.

What I think should happen: Chavo and Hernandez retains, Joey Ryan and Matt Morgan break up and Matt Morgan gets a serious storyline.

What I think will happen: I think Chavo and Hernandez will retain. There is a chance that Morgan and Ryan could win the titles, but if TNA were smart they’d have Chavo and Hernandez drop the belts to a different team. I don’t think they want Morgan to be Joey Ryan’s bodyguard for too long, and putting the belt on Morgan and Ryan would be a huge risk.

Christian York vs Kenny King, with the winner facing Rob Van Dam for the TNA X Division Championship later that night

Background: Rob Van Dam defeated Kenny King to retain the X-Division Championship at Final Resolution. However, on the next episode of Impact Wrestling, King defeated RVD in a non-title match using the ropes as leverage in order to make the pin. The next week, King was confident that Rob Van Dam would call him out on Open Fight Night. Instead, RVD called-out Christian York who was producing strong showings against the very best TNA has to offer since earning a TNA contract. RVD did defeat York that night, but the next week, York defeated Kid Kash to earn a spot in a X Division Title  number one contendership match at Genesis, with the winner getting a shot at the title against RVD the same night. The next week, Kenny King defeated Zema Ion to earn the second spot in the number one contendership match, meaning Kenny King would face Christian York at Genesis for the right to face RVD for the X-Division Title the same night.

What I think should happen: Rob Van Dam should lose the title. I don’t know I just don’t feel excited for the X-Division with him being champion. I mean, let’s not forget, RVD is a veteran after all. The champion should be way more energetic. I get why RVD is the X-Division Champion. They want the X-Division to feel prestigious again, so they put the strap on a big-name star like RVD, but despite his abilities in the ring, he just isn’t fast-paced enough for this division in my opinion. I think Kenny King should win the belt tonight, and be built as champion for months and months to come. Remember, Destination X is finished because of the new 4 PPV system from TNA, so they don’t need to have someone trade the X-Division title for a TNA World Title shot, so use the new specials in production to build the X-Divsion again. They are PLENTY of guys around the world who wouldn’t think twice about joining TNA and being a part of their division if they give it enough exposure, and bring by the Six Sides.

What I think will happen: Christian York defeats Kenny King, and Kenny King costs York the title match later that night. I don’t think TNA would want to have RVD drop the belt just yet. I think Kenny King is destined for the belt, I just don’t think it’ll happen tonight.

Christopher Daniels vs James Storm

Background: At Final Resolution, Storm defeated Kazarian in a random match that was put together that night. But after AJ Styles lost to Christopher Daniels in their final match at Final Resolution and “left” the company, Storm took exception to Daniels and Kazarian taking the piss out of AJ on the next few weeks on Impact. Three weeks ago, Daniels and Kazarian first had “Santa Claus” come out and slander AJ, before Storm got involved and attacked Santa. Then, two weeks ago, Kazarian came out dressed as AJ Styles making fun of AJ. A match between James Storm and Christopher Daniels was then put in place for Genesis to settle their dispute.

What I think should happen: Christopher Daniels wins, because he’s freaking awesome! Seriously, that segment with Daniels calling out “AJ Styles” for “one SECOND last time” and calling the fans “Ham Sandwiches” was funny as hell. Yeah Kazarian was funnier with his AJ Styles impression, but I would love it if Daniels got pushed to the World Title, and defeating James Storm would be huge for Daniels.

What I think will happen: James Storm will win. As much as I’d like to see Daniels win, they want Storm to win the title down the line, and they would not want him to lose to someone like Daniels.

Devon vs Joseph Park

Background: At Turning Point, Joseph Park was defeated by DOC. On the next Impact Wrestling, Joseph Park agreed to go to OVW (TNA’s developmental territory) for training so he could face Aces And Eights on more time. Over the weeks, TNA started showing segments which showed Park hard at work. Despite getting off to a bad start, Park actually made some progress and dedicated himself to wrestling a lot more while there. He returned to TNA on Thursday to ask Hulk Hogan for a match with Aces And Eights. Hogan eventually agreed to giving Park his match with an Aces And Eights member at Genesis, who was later revealed to be Devon.

What I think should happen: Devon wins. I think Aces And Eights should just kick the crap out of Park, take him out. And have Abyss come back, to try and avenge his brother. That’s what I think should happen.

What I think will happen: Devon wins. Despite training, Joseph Park is still gonna get squashed I think.

Miss Tessmacher vs Mickie James vs ODB vs Gail Kim vs Velvet Sky in a Gauntlet Match to determine the #1 contender for the TNA Knockouts Championship

Background: The Knockouts Division has been picking up as of late. With the returns of Velvet Sky and Mickie James, competition for the title held by Tara has picked up. So, this gauntlet has been put together, pitting 5 former knockouts champions against each other for the right to face Tara for the Knockouts Championship.

What I think should happen: I’m a big fan of Tessmacher, so I’d like to see her win the match. While it’d make more sense for Velvet Sky to win the match since she just returned, there’s still some kind of storyline going on between Tara and Tessmacher. I mean she teamed with Robbie T to defeat Tara and Jesse on Thursday’s Impact. So I’d like to see Tessmacher face Tara again. These two can do good work together.

What I think will happen: I think Velvet Sky will win. Mickie James won’t win, since she had a shot at Final Resolution. I doubt ODB will win. Gail Kim won’t win. I see Sky winning it over Tessmacher to be honest, since she just returned.

Sting vs DOC

Background: 2 weeks before Turning Point, DOC was unmasked as a member of Aces And Eights. The next week, The VP told DOC to prove his worth to the group to become a full-pledged member. So, DOC went after Sting, delivering a brutal beat down to Sting with a hammer. With this attack, DOC was fully accepted into Aces And Eights. However, vignettes started to air which would reveal that Sting would return on the 3rd of January 2013 edition of Impact Wrestling. And he made good on his word, saving Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle from Aces And Eights. Sting then stated that he was coming for DOC. DOC vs Sting was made for Genesis.

What I think should happen: If TNA want the Aces And Eights faction to show more significance and become more of a threat, they’d have DOC beat one of the biggest stars in TNA. While DOC is terrible on the mic, he still posses that mean streak that gives him importance in the group, and I feel DOC could really go places in TNA.

What I think I will happen: Sting will win. This is his revenge match. I don’t see TNA having him lose (even though he should).

Austin Aries vs Bobby Roode vs Jeff Hardy (c) in an elimination triple threat match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

Background: At Bound For Glory, Jeff Hardy won the TNA World Title from Austin Aries, and successfully defended it against him at Turning Point in a Ladder match. Afterwards, Bobby Roode became the number one contender for the TNA World Title, and on the Impact Wrestling before Final Resolution, Bobby Roode paid Aces And Eights to attack Jeff before the Roode vs Hardy match at Final Resolution. However, Aces And Eights refused to help him during the title match with Hardy at Final Resolution, which led to Jeff Hardy retaining the title. Aces And Eights then attacked Hardy AND Roode after the match. On the Impact Wrestling after Final Resolution, Roode demanded to know why Aces And Eights attacked him. Devon then revealed that Roode was outbid by Austin Aries, who paid the group to take out both of them at Final Resolution. The next week, Austin Aries was granted a World Title the next week in a one on one match with Jeff Hardy However, Roode screwed Aries out of the title, by hitting a spinebuster on Aries, allowing Jeff to pick up the win. This would lead to Aries calling out Roode for a match at Open Fight Night the next week, which was interrupted by Jeff Hardy. The next week, Jeff Hardy decided to take on both of them at Genesis for the World title in a triple threat match. Hulk Hogan made the match an elimination match.

What should happen: Jeff Hardy loses the title. Whether it’s Aries or Roode that win it, it doesn’t matter. I don’t think Jeff should on to the belt for that long, and Roode and Aires are capable main event heels, so either of them two holding the belt would make good TV.

What will happen: Jeff Hardy will retain the title, because he is TNA’s John Cena. Super Hardy wins!

That’s it. I will watch Genesis tomorrow, since I don’t have University tomorrow. YES! I’m not gonna watch it live. The last PPV I watched live was Hell In A Cell, and that didn’t end so well, and had really bad morning side-effects. Hehe. Later. BYE

Follow me @TomRobinson5199 as always. 🙂 See ya!

10/01/13 Impact Wrestling Review/Reactions – The Prelude To Genesis

Yes, Genesis is this Sunday, so one last stop has to be made before that event takes place. And this stop was certainty an eventful one.

Aces And Eights

Aces And Eights were certainly busy tonight, and this storyline is starting to get some momentum with someone being unmasked (Mike Knox), Mr Anderson apparently joining the crew and Sting’s return. So we started off the show with Sting, Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle in the ring talking trash about Aces And Eights. Kurt Angle calls out Mr Anderson to ask who’s side he’s on. Anderson came out and had a dig at them all for not helping him when Aces And Eights kicked his ass a couple of months ago, and had a go at Sting for choosing Bully Ray over Ken to team up with him at Bound For Glory. It was an alright promo, but considering how great Anderson is on the mic – for god’s sake, he sounded so dull. Anderson’s gold on the mic, and if he is a full-time member of Aces And Eights, make him a little more charismatic and enthusiastic please. Anyway that set up Mr Anderson vs Kurt Angle later on that night. Also, the VP of Aces And Eights put Mike Knox on notice. He told him to earn his place in the group, just like DOC did a couple of months ago by attacking Sting. So, the match was about to take place, when Knox decks Angle with the hammer, and bails with the group when Garrett Bischoff and Wes Brisco tried to make the save. Angle is stretchered to the back, and then Sting challenges Knox to a match, which ends with Sting getting the win. Not that bad of a match, which afterwards saw Brooke Hogan become a Danzel in Distress and being captured by the Aces And Eights. Of the course the “suspended” knight in shining armor Bully Ray makes the save, which sets up the next segment, which we’ll get to later on.

Austin Aries And Bobby Roode

These two were funny as hell on this episode of Impact. Them two bickering over their  ring attire before their match with Jeff Hardy and James Storm. I love it, seeing these two heels trying to out-do one another. I also loved them arguing through-out the tag match. Austin Aries slapping Roode really hard on the back to make the tag was funny as hell. You’ll have to watch it yourself either on Challenge at 9pm in the UK on Sunday or on YouTube to comprehend the awesomeness of these segments. These two should do this stuff a lot more often. The tag match itself was actually a really good tag match. Daniels and Kazarian tried to take out James Storm, who faces Daniels at Genesis, continuing that feud. But Jeff Hardy’s Twist Of Fate at the end looked a lot more like a stunner if you asked me. The Stunner Of Fate? Anyway, I’m looking forward to the triple threat elimination match for the TNA World title, between Roode, Aries and Hardy at Genesis. Should be a great encounter. As well as the Daniels/Storm match at Genesis. They could deliver a great match given enough time.

Robbie T Gets With Miss Tessmacher

Right so Robbie E goes up to Miss Tessmacher and asks her to team up with him to take on Jesse and Tara tonight. Tessmacher agrees to face them, but with Robbie T. The match itself was essentially a squash match. Tessmacher squashed Tara, while Robbie T squashed Jesse. So Tessmacher and Robbie T win… BUT Robbie T does a little of his dance routine from a couple weeks ago in the bro-off, but with the assistance of the lovely Tessmacher. While I was a little freaked out by the segment, Robbie T turning face may be very good, and the crowd seems to get really into him. Also, this segment saw Tessmacher shaking that ass, which is ALWAYS a good thing. Tessmacher and Robbie T also made out. Robbie T is getting some ASS! LOL This face turn storyline could be rather good if done correctly. Robbie T’s got a lot of potential.

Joseph Park

He’s back! And he’s willing to put his law-business aside as he is set to ask Hulk Hogan for one more match with Aces And Eights. And then he walks into a door! XD Oh man, that had me in tears! Back to the matter at hand, Hulk Hogan gives Park a match with Aces And Eights, which is later confirmed to be at Genesis, and against Devon. Meh. Not exactly fussed on Devon vs Park at Genesis, but then again, I wasn’t that fussed when Park took on DOC, and I actually enjoyed that match. So this could actually be not bad.

Kenny King vs Zema Ion

A pretty slick match from the X-Divsion once again. Kenny King won and advanced to the finals of the X-Divison tournament against Christian York, with the winner facing RVD later that night. I would have liked to see them go a little longer, but that match was pretty awesome for the short amount of time it was showcased. The X-Divsion is such a great feature on TNA. They just need to promote it a lot better – and I don’t mean giving them their own PPV and signing some talent to short-term contracts. Do you remember back when TNA just started, they had like 30 different guys competing for that title? Now they’ve only got like 6. Come on TNA.

Brian Cage vs Jay Bradley

Meh. Alright match. Some good wrestling abilities on show. Not exactly big on the idea of Gut-Check. I just think the whole thing is pretty boring. By the way, I thought it was cool when Bradley referenced CM Punk during his video package before the match. That was a cool shout-out.

Bully Ray Pops The Question

Yes, this storyline has gotten the point where Bully Ray has proposed on TV to Brooke Hogan, and the wedding is all set for next week. Really not into this storyline. But, why do I get the feeling that both Bully Ray and Brooke are gonna turn heel on Hulk soon. I don’t know. I just see it happening. But yeah, expect a broken up wedding next week. Cool. -.-

Good show, I think. And good build to Genesis. That’ll be a good PPV to watch I think.

LATER!

@TomRobinson5199

DEATH BATTLE: Superman vs Goku! Thoughts And Reactions To The Result!

NOTE: I know I’m more of a Sports and Wrestling guy, but I am a bit of a nerd on the side, so I had to cover this. TNA Review is coming up later tonight don’t worry. But now…

IT’S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, the most highly-anticipated Death Battle of all time. The most debated argument of all-time finally has an end. Superman vs Goku. The internet debates can finally end, as we have a winner from the battles of battles. And that winner is…….

The Man Of Steel – SUPERMAN!

Yeah, it was probably the closest and most epic fight produced by anyone, but Superman prevailed, and I’m glad he did. I’m not exactly that knowledgeable on the Dragonball Z characters’ capabilities, but even I can see it’s hard to argue with the result. Remember, these guys did a SHIT load of research before having the battle take place, but it was decided over one simple factor. It’s exactly what Wiz said at the end of the video. Goku is willing to break the limits in order to achieve his goal. He’s willing to risk it all in hopes of success. However, Superman is SUPERMAN. He has no limits to break.

Also, Goku isn’t exactly the smartest fighter, as he exposed Superman to so much of the Sun, which increased his abilities to anything that Goku can transform to. Superman, believe it or not, is a smart fighter himself. Yes, his martial arts skills don’t even come close to Goku, but Superman is one of the leading members of the Justice League for a reason, because he is a great strategist. Maybe he’s developed his strategy with the assistance of Batman over the years, but he was a capable strategist long before he met Batman, and has outsmarted Lex Luthor on more than one occasion. Superman was also effortlessly able to hold his own against even Super Sayian Level 4 Goku and could keep with his incredible agility. Superman’s speed is off the charts.

Of course, this fight is not about who is the smartest. It’s about power and strength, and I always though Superman would have trumped Goku in these areas before the fight was aired. Superman can move entire planets effortlessly and strength’s more his game anyway. Goku is strong himself, but he’s not even in Superman’s league. He’s the tale of the tape for Superman and Goku’s speed, strength and durability…

SUPERMAN VS GOKU: SEE? Never stood a chance.

So even if Goku was aware of Superman’s exposure-to-the-sun situation, and he was given prep time, he could not have competed with Superman on any of these scales. Goku’s durability is pathetic in comparison to Superman’s.

So, overall, it was a great production that was certainty worth the wait. If this makes it’s way onto YouTube down the road, I’ll be watching this over and over again. Great use of the 3D too and every second of the fight kept me at the end of my seat. Also, I linked up my laptop to the TV and watched it on the “big” screen, so it was a lot more epic. Whatever the result was, it doesn’t matter. This was simply… AMAZING. And hopefully, Dragonball Z fanboys can SHUT THE FUCK UP, accept defeat and end this argument. I mean Death Battle had Vegeta defeat Shadow The Hedgehog. So what if their top guy lost to Superman. That series is still epic. And this fight almost makes up for Batman losing to Spiderman. -.- Still a little mad about that, but Superman won so I’m happy.

ANYWAY… nerd moment over. Stay tuned for my blog posts about TNA’s new PPV Plans, and the TNA review, which both could get done today. I may leave the TNA PPV Plans blog post to tomorrow. I haven’t decided. But stay tuned, and thanks to the readers that have been getting the readership up for me! THANKS